Foraging 101: ancient elderberry

Foraging requires a food literacy that’s been largely lost, as more and more of our foraging occurs in supermarkets with occasional forays to farmers markets and farm stands. Once upon a time, though, we turned to the fields and forests for foods to supplement our diets. We harvested berries, fruits and nuts from bushes and trees; ate wild greens, herbal plants, puffballs and mushrooms from the meadows and forest floor. We used dandelions for every single part of the plant — the leaves for salads, the roots for a coffee substitute, the flower buds as a substitute for capers, and the blossoms as dyes for fabric. We ate May Apples and crabapples; wild ginger, nettles and wild garlic; and roots like burdock, chicory and goldenseal. We scavenged mint and watercress found growing in small creeks and streams. Much of our knowledge came from Indigenous Peoples who taught the first settlers what was safe and how to cook or process and eat wild foods. Some plants, mushrooms and berries, in particular, require a sophisticated level of knowledge before picking and eating. Others are more obvious. I’m planning to do a series of foraging stories in consultation with local experts. In the meantime, I’m starting with elderberries, one of the more obvious choices. The berries are in season right now and can be found growing prolifically throughout much of Canada. Check the sides of walking and hiking trails, and fence lines along country roads. Elderberries (Sambucus nigra) are indigenous to both North America and Europe. The berries grow on bushes or small trees that are often mistaken for the highly toxic Giant Hogweed, also known as Cow Parsley. Elderberry bushes can easily be distinguished from Giant Hogweed in two ways: first, elderberries have an opposite leaf structure and, second, the berry clusters and berry stems become a deep reddish-purple colour when the berries are ripe. The berries are very easy to pick. Elderberry blossoms and berries are both edible and delicious, though the stems and leaves of the plant are not. Care must be taken when harvesting and preparing elderberries to avoid ingesting or using the stems and leaves, as they are poisonous. Destem the berries using the tines of a fork. Sorting the berries (you must remove all bits of stem, leaf and all green berries) takes longer. Elderberries have an astonishing number of health benefits, which were first noted by Hippocrates, the ancient Greek, known as the “father of medicine,” who called elderberries a “medicine chest” because of the wide assortment of ailments the berries could cure. More recently, elderberries have been found to have extremely potent antiviral and antioxidant properties. This Elderberry Pie is a six-generation-old Ontario Mennonite recipe. The full story can be found in Out of Old Ontario Kitchens due out next month. Lindy Mechefske is the award-winning author of Sir John’s Table and A Taste of Wintergreen. Watch for her new book, Out of Old Ontario Kitchens, out September 2018. Contact at lindymechefske.com.